There's something wrong with me

Chapter 227: An Epiphany That Came Naturally

That noon, news of Yin's company spread across various forums.

Zhang Feng's actions were so blatant and took place in a bustling commercial area, witnessed by thousands of people. It was naturally difficult to conceal.

It was impossible to completely block the news.

The content of the posts mostly revolved around 'divine manifestations' and 'acting on behalf of Heaven'.

One hot post was even more direct.

It was titled, 'The Yin family has committed countless evil deeds, and Heaven has come to collect them!'

This post gained the most traction on a major website.

Many netizens learned the full story and details there.

Because the poster was not only a citizen outside the company at the scene but also carried a clear video camera that day.

When the 'earthquake' suddenly occurred, he was initially surprised and then aimed his camera at the company.

He managed to simply record the entire process, as well as parts of Zhang Feng's miraculous actions.

After all, Zhang Feng was inside the company lobby, with some fleeing company personnel and company decorations obstructing the view.

The poster, on the other hand, was filming from outside, both afraid and excited.

He was afraid, indeed, he dared not enter, so he did not capture the full picture.

He was afraid, indeed, yet he was so excited he didn't want to leave.

But it was precisely his filming, and Zhang Feng's final ascent into the sky, that caused the biggest wave of comments in the post.

Some said it was a movie, others said it was real.

However, as someone later posted pictures of the 'company being cordoned off by law enforcement,' and one bloodstained white cloth after another, along with bodies, being carried out,

Everyone believed it, but before they could chat much, this post 'also' was deleted.

The internet of that era also had strong censorship capabilities.

Because Zhang Feng's incident had been reported to very high levels.

And Zhang Feng's methods, such miraculous techniques, made many people re-examine this world.

'Are there really Immortals in this world?'

They didn't understand, but the facts told them that Immortals truly existed, and they 'acted on behalf of Heaven' by wiping out entire families.

Furthermore, these events caused a huge stir, and the local villains simply couldn't suppress it.

For a time, people and matters related to Yin were thoroughly investigated.

A special investigation team was immediately launched.

Including various regions also began a new round of investigations and screenings for villains.

...

Half a day later.

Outside the tomb raider's residential area.

Tap—

A taxi door opened.

Unlike the major changes elsewhere,

Zhang Feng, combining flying and taking a car, returned after crossing hundreds of kilometers.

Even when ascending into the sky, he only flew over one city.

More often, Zhang Feng rode in a car, looking at this 'Celestial Palace map'.

It was composed of an unknown animal hide and animal hair mixed together.

The hide served as the book's carrier, and the hair was sewn into characters and drawings.

Anyway, it looked quite abstract.

Zhang Feng looked at it the whole way, found it a bit incomprehensible, and didn't want to strain his brain unnecessarily, so he simply came to Boss and the others to decipher it.

Because the Netherworld's 'map' was also of this type.

Zhang Feng felt that this should be an unconventional riddle.

Zhang Feng truly hadn't studied this area of knowledge in detail.

After all, there was no real need to deeply research such riddles that were unique to the riddle-setter.

But now it was time to learn, because it had appeared a second time.

It seemed that Great Yama and Yangshan Zhenren both liked this kind of 'riddle'.

Either learn it now, in case similar riddles from Yangshan Zhenren or Great Yama appear in the future world.

He wouldn't need others and could quickly get to the point.

Zhang Feng's approach to learning knowledge now was like this: for obscure knowledge, he would only learn it once he confirmed its usefulness again.

This way, he could greatly reduce learning pressure and better focus on mainstream research topics.

Zhang Feng was now like the Superconducting Small Building; after all previous knowledge had been digested, he began to use all his accumulated wisdom to form a 'specialized thought drill' for specific areas of study.

Of course, this mode of operation is not something a normal person can learn, because when one is researching something, they will more or less recall other more comprehensive factors, which then causes their mind to be divided.

But Zhang Feng already had other knowledge as his foundation, so he didn't need to be distracted and could achieve a single main focus.

This was also why Zhang Feng's mind naturally condensed as he got closer to the Nascent Soul stage.

This also gave Zhang Feng some insight: the true self, perhaps, is 'one self'.

...

Upon entering the house, he handed the map to Boss.

Boss looked at Taoist Priest Zhang with alarm.

He had, of course, seen the news online.

But he hadn't expected Taoist Priest Zhang to be so 'strong?' and so direct?

To say he would send someone on their way, and then directly, in broad daylight, single-handedly storm their home and behead the entire family?

But thinking of Taoist Priest Zhang's strength, it seemed he was indeed 'unbridled'.

And he also knew that Taoist Priest Zhang, seemingly amiable, was actually a great cultivator who 'regarded life as grass'.

However, he was also curious about one thing.

That was, two years ago, Taoist Priest Zhang still looked like a 'human'.

At least when he went down the pit, he was still climbing the wall step by step.

But now, he could fly and was increasingly resembling an Immortal.

...

Giving the map to Boss and the others was indeed the correct decision.

Because they had experience deciphering the Netherworld map, they quickly got the hang of this one.

Coupled with the tomb raider mentioning 'West Sea',

Thus,

Ten days later,

Ge Ge was largely able to determine that this place was three thousand nautical miles into the West Sea.

However, the coordinates given on the map were an abstract starting point from the sea, so it was a bit vague.

But if using land as a starting point, it would be on the edge of Jiu Province in the Xia Dynasty, nine hundred kilometers to the west.

Specialization has its advantages; Ge Ge and the others were very good at deciphering and interpreting relic information.

Zhang Feng had also been learning these past few days.

Not only this 'hide-and-fur map,' but also some knowledge related to relic exploration, which he noted down first.

Once he integrated more from reality and added the tomb-raiding techniques of various sects,

He would basically be able to achieve 'intermediate relic deciphering'.

This should generally be enough.

If not, he would consider it later.

Anyway, as long as there were relevant riddles in the adventure world, there would definitely be someone in that adventure who could decipher them.

It's just that if he was proficient himself, it would be relatively faster and he wouldn't need outsiders.

If he hadn't learned it, it would be like now, not only requiring some time but also needing some people to help.

Generally, it's either exchanging experience for time, or spending time to gain experience.

But as his realm grew higher and his thinking became more advanced, he would learn faster.

So Zhang Feng mostly put these miscellaneous studies aside for 'later'.

This way, ten days of study time might be compressed into one day.

Of course, if he used his 'future' powerful thinking to study his main subjects, it would naturally be very fast too.

Mainstream topics that would take ten days to break through might be broken in one day.

So Zhang Feng also came to a conclusion: there is no shortcut to learning.

There is only 'before' and 'after'.

This discovery, coupled with the approximate location of the Celestial Palace being found, completely eased Zhang Feng's urgency of two years, and his Nascent Soul progress increased by another 1%.

It seems that life is full of knowledge.

A problem that one unintentionally resolves in life might be a new insight that was previously unconstrained.

Zhang Feng also suddenly felt that he used to think he had learned enough, but now he realized he had learned too little.

Including himself in the past few years, or even decades.

He seemed to have only come out of seclusion after biding his time and sought stability, but in reality, there was a kind of 'arrogance' in his heart, a feeling of looking down on everyone.

However, this condescension excluded zuoshangke and Yangshan Zhenren.

Arrogance was also a new experience.

It was just that he had experienced it unknowingly, and only realized he was arrogant in hindsight.

...

Two days later, in the morning.

Zhang Feng and the three Bosses rode together in an old-fashioned commercial vehicle, heading to Jiu Province, three thousand kilometers away.

And in the car again,

Aside from the driver,

Boss, in the passenger seat, occasionally looked at Zhang Feng, who was meditating with his eyes closed in the back seat.

Including Ge Ge and Brother Zhou in the middle seats, they also occasionally glanced at Zhang Feng.

But now, they were not surprised by the Yin incident from ten days ago; instead, they felt that Taoist Priest Zhang seemed a bit 'changed' today.

As for where he had changed, they didn't know.

'Arrogance, for me, is a hidden aspect of my character.' Zhang Feng, however, knew profoundly where he had changed.

That was his 'temperament'.

If he was naturally easygoing before, now he was even closer to nature, and the easygoingness was gone.

His past easygoingness might have been his unconscious attempt to hide his arrogance, a heart demon, and thus something he 'faked' subconsciously.

Zhang Feng felt this possibility was very high.

And he also knew.

If he could step into the Nascent Soul stage, he could immediately begin integrating with the 'Soul Transformation' stage.

Because his character, at present, was already relatively complete.

I can't find any flaws.

So, I can try to fuse my Spiritual Mind with my Gold Core.

For ordinary cultivators, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage might be difficult.

But for me, my Spiritual Mind has a 'progress'!

It's a visualization of thought.

It's just a visualization, not the void of a 'Nascent Soul-soul'.

This is a shortcut to skipping realms.

Zhang Feng has been cultivating in reverse, cultivating his mind and spirit first.

Normally, in cultivation, it shouldn't be like this.

But now, it just so happens to be this way, and my foundation is extremely solid.

When the time comes, my accumulated strength will burst forth naturally.

However, Zhang Feng also knows that with his powerful Spiritual Mind, powerful Nascent Soul, and powerful Gold Core,

It will probably take a long time to integrate them into the Nascent Soul stage.

To be honest, I don't know how long it will take.

However, I have already reached about 90% of the Nascent Soul stage, and I can break through in reality.

What if I add more time in reality, and then the growth time in the level 8 world is a bit more?

Then perhaps it will be possible to try to touch 'Void Refinement' within the level 8 Nascent Soul world.

If Wang She Ge were to describe this kind of leap, he would say, 'Damn it, it's so ridiculous, are you going to let others live?'

But I can't help it. I've been studying diligently and have achieved this level. There's nothing I can do.

Besides, to be honest, if I hadn't studied hard, I wouldn't have been able to get through many of the initial stages.

And after the initial stages, I overcame the difficulties. It's only natural to experience hardship before enjoyment.

Zhang Feng now looks at these matters with a calm mind, with only one goal: to quickly reach the Nascent Soul stage, and then achieve the Three-point Origin Severance Technique.

And the cultivation realms, according to the Gold Core world and past cultivation worlds' calculations,

are Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Refinement, and Tribulation Transcension.

Zhang Feng is currently cultivating this system.

If anything else appears in the future, I will integrate it.

Just like the current biotechnology and Rune Technology, they are actually different systems.

But I have integrated them all into cultivation.

Including Spiritual Mind, it is also first categorized under cultivation, following the cultivation system.

Ten Spiritual Minds are enough, and it's my current limit. I could split more, but I wouldn't be able to control them.

It's better to continuously refine them, increasing the basic thought value within the ten Spiritual Minds, as well as the basic spiritual energy value that can be mobilized and contained.

When I cannot control them, cultivating the foundation and building the groundwork is definitely not wrong.

Moreover, this can also improve my control over the microscopic world, and under more detailed observation, optimize my own functional structure, spell structure, and all cultivation system structures.

It's a kind of 'overall regulation'.

The spirit controls everything, and it can reach the point where, among essence, qi, and spirit, the spirit is the commander, leading the three armies within the body.

...

Three days later, at noon.

We arrived at the West Sea coast.

A salty sea breeze blew, temporarily suppressing Zhang Feng's frantic studying of the past few days.

As his vision and Spiritual Sense focused, he looked at the few tourists and small boats on the beach.

To be honest, Zhang Feng truly felt a sense of being in another world.

Just over ten days of cultivation and focused comprehension were no less than decades of time passing.

It really can create a huge sense of disconnect in certain situations.

"Zhang Daouchang, I'll go rent a boat..."

At this moment, Boss and the others felt no sense of disconnect. Instead, they enthusiastically went to the beach to rent a boat.

For this Celestial Palace exploration, Zhang Feng only brought the three of them.

Firstly, it was to repay them for their decryption and search efforts, allowing them to see the Celestial Palace they had longed for.

Secondly, with fewer people, it was easier to take care of them.

As for the dozen or so security guards, they remained in Qi City, awaiting official inquiries.

After all, Zhang Feng had done such a thing and hadn't concealed his appearance.

The official authorities, with their immense power, would surely investigate the mountain village and then follow the clues to Qi City and so on.

These people could act as intermediaries, explaining to the officials that they had no malicious intentions.

Anyway, whatever Zhang Feng could think of, the numerous smart people in the organization had naturally arranged everything.

This also led to Zhang Feng not seeing any official personnel along the way.

Of course, it's also possible that the officials haven't investigated yet.

After all, technology was not developed in those days.

Zhang Feng didn't show his face when taking the car, and with cameras not being widespread, it was difficult for officials to ascertain Zhang Feng's exact whereabouts.

Not making contact now was also a good thing.

Zhang Feng was also at leisure, sitting on a rock by the sea, watching Boss and the other two rent a boat.

After about fifteen minutes,

a cabin boat about nine meters long and three meters wide was rented.

But it wasn't a rowing boat; it was also made of wood.

Instead, it had a steel hull and an engine.

Rumble—

With the engine starting and a few barrels of engine oil being loaded onto the boat,

Boss and the other two took turns driving the boat.

They all had experience in boating and navigation.

After all, they specialized in studying ruins, and some ruins were located at the bottom of the sea.

They naturally had to learn the skills of driving such ordinary small boats.

At the same time,

Zhang Feng sat on the edge of the boat, feeling the sea breeze while using his Spiritual Sense to explore every small body of water they passed.

This was to prevent the Celestial Palace at the bottom of the sea from collapsing, causing its contents to scatter.

Unconsciously, five hours passed.

It was already evening.

The early autumn sea wind in the west was a bit damp and cold for ordinary people.

Zhang Feng also knew that the geography of this world was a bit different from reality, so he drew three protective talismans for the three of them.

They were a combination of small strokes from 'Gathering Fire' and 'Expelling Wind', totaling 0.8 strokes.

But miraculously, it could provide warmth and insulation while resisting cold and wind.

Zhang Feng could already use them in combination, but it was more due to the knowledge of spiritual energy mixed structures provided by the Virtual Small Building and Superconducting calculations.

However, Boss and the other two didn't know this, but they felt that Zhang Daouchang knew everything.

Because they had also seen the 'water-attributed runes left by Yangshan Zhenren' and, through Zhang Feng's explanations, understood some of the cultivation system.

So they mostly thought that Zhang Daouchang only knew the runes 'left by his predecessors,' but they never thought that Zhang Daouchang could 'innovate from the old.'

This kind of cultivation genius was beyond their imagination.

In fact, from a certain perspective, they sometimes compared Zhang Daouchang to the legendary 'Yangshan Zhenren' and 'Great Yama'.

In Boss's opinion, Zhang Daouchang would likely become a 'mythical figure' of the present day, creating mythical structures.

"We're almost at the target sea area, prepare yourselves."

Zhang Feng, however, had no intention of building a house. Instead, he drew three more talismans,

"This talisman is a combination of water repulsion and normal spiritual gathering."

Zhang Feng gave them the talismans and, knowing that they were earnestly cultivating, explained to them:

"This ensures that when you jump into the seawater, you won't be squeezed or drowned by the water.

And the spiritual gathering talisman can also extract unassigned spiritual energy from the seawater, temporarily acting as oxygen.

This way, ordinary people can also swim in the sea."

"You can breathe in the water too?" Boss held the talisman, exclaiming, "Zhang Daouchang, I and Ge Ge can understand your protective talismans, but... isn't this talisman of yours the mythical Water-Repelling Pearl?"

"Yes..." Brother Zhou also exclaimed repeatedly, "You... can create a Water-Repelling Pearl?"

"Doesn't this mean..." Ge Ge was also extremely surprised, and he voiced the deepest thoughts of the other two, "If you fill a house with these talismans, and then sink it into the deep sea, and ordinary people can live there normally,

This... isn't this the 'East Sea Dragon Palace' from mythical dramas? It's also... the Celestial Palace?"

In their opinion, the reason the Celestial Palace could be in the water, and possibly have 'Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals' living inside,

was very likely due to a water-repelling 'divine structure'.

And as for the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals, they now had a clear understanding that those people could not be the 'immortals' from myths.

From this perspective, to build the Celestial Palace, one must have a 'water-repelling divine artifact' to allow these people to live there for extended periods.

'Taoist Priest can actually build the Celestial Palace...'

They now also knew that Zhang Daouchang had reached the realm of those two ancient immortals.

And with the 'background information' they had learned before,

They knew even more that Zhang Daouchang was only thirty-seven years old now.

At thirty-seven years old, he had already reached the height of ancient mythical figures.